Have you heard of the escape rooms? They are places where you go and by the choices you make you work your way through a type of maze to escape a room. This book is the same concept just in book form. You read a part of the book then by doing a puzzle or solving a riddle you figure out where to go next in the book,.

Some of the puzzles are really easy others are a bit harder. The book is kind of fun for the puzzle solver in all of us. The book did keep me entertained even if the story was a bit silly to me.

I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com to read and review.

The Escape Book has the concept of an Escape Room, but in a book, how cool does that sound?

I've done a couple of escape rooms, and I'm proud to say my escape rate is at 100% (though twice really close with either 17 or 2 seconds left). I quite like them, and combining them with a book made me really curious, but slightly afraid also, because of course, I'd never read an escape room.

There's text until the main character reaches a puzzle, which you will then have to solve in order to know at what page you have to continue reading. In my electronic review copy, numbering was off, which made it harder to find the right pages. There was also the limitation that the solution to each and every puzzle is a number. While I understand, it would have been nice to have some more variation (which isn't thrown in until the very end). However, the story in between the puzzles is repetitive, vague and at times I wanted to smack her because she spends a lot of time pondering where she should be going through the maze.

A fun book for a rainy afternoon, but it couldn't really grasp the escape room feel.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

In Dream Jumper: Nightmare Escape Ben learns that he has a gift. He can jump into the dream world and see other people’s dreams. When Kaylee (his not girlfriend), falls into sub-rem sleep and can’t wake up, Ben decides he must find a way to save her. While asleep, Ben meets Lewis, a mysterious rabbit who helps him fight evil forces in the dream world.

There are currently two books in the Dream Jumper series. The idea for this series came from a dream that author (and actor) Greg Grunberg’s son had. The drawings are bright and cinematic feeling. They match perfectly with the story’s sense of adventure and mystery.

I really enjoyed this one. The concept reminds me of the Freddy Kruger movies, but this is much tamer - meant for the younger set. Ben is a great character and I really like him. I will try to read the second book too. I also think I will suggest we add this to our elementary school library.

Escape to Love, a lovely novella and book 6 in Ramona Flightner’s Banished Saga series, was quite the treat. A surprising treat to be sure! I’ve been a fan of this series since I started reading it back in 2014 and the Saga has only gotten better with each installment.

The Banished Saga, when it began, was set on the offset of suffragist movement of Boston 1901. Along the way we met many characters, including our favorite, the first couple of the series, Clarissa and Gabriel in Banished Love. Their story was ongoing in books 2 and 3, Reclaimed Love and Undaunted Love. They still make appearances in the latest installments. We also met Clarissa and Gabriel’s family. Clarissa’s own brothers Colin and Patrick, who wasn’t introduced until much later. Her cousin Savannah and best friend Florence, both avid suffragettes and worked with Clarissa throughout. Gabriel’s younger brothers Richard and Jeremy were also introduced, as was their long lost uncle Aidan.

The story started to veer away from the original couples when it jumped 10 years in book 4, Tenacious Love. The spotlight had shifted onto the second generations of McLeod/Sullivans. New characters and couples their contemporary were introduced. By then Clarissa-Gabriel, Savannah-Jeremy, Richard-Florence were married with children. Aidan had his long lost love Delia back in his life, bonus with a daughter, Zylphia whom he didn’t know existed (he was a sailor and had not been around Boston for years). Each had come through a long, arduous journey to find their own standing in life and the men or women they loved. I had loved every single moment of it because it always felt like I’m a friend, and not just a spectator of their lives.

I read this for Romance Book Bingo 2017: New Adult. Yes thank goodness due to the two protagonists being between the ages of 18-30 that this book counts towards that square.

Eh. That's all I really have to say about this newest edition to the Escape to New Zealand book. This book missed for me due to lack of chemistry and dialogue between the two leads (Chloe and Kevin). James does a good job with the initial set-up, but then the book just flounders right before it runs into a straight out of Melrose Place plot-line. There were some bits here and there that are classic James that I liked. But I think due to the just okay leads and the terrible ass parents and ex (Chloe's ex) I just wanted this book to be over as soon as possible. Also there was a sub-plot involving Kevin's twin sisters and just no. No a thousand times. It messed up the whole rhythm of the book and I felt like they both were being set up to be the focus of future books.

The book starts off with Chloe Davidson standing by to watch her best friend Josie (Just Not Mine, Escape to New Zealand #6) getting married. I think this initially is what caused some of my confusion. This is book #10 in the series, and I honestly haven't thought too much about Josie and Hugh since then. So to get thrown back to that book and trying to remember who Chloe is and her connection to Josie didn't quite work. And from there we have Chloe going into another flashback involving what should have been her wedding day. Now here James does sing. I get Chloe's heartbreak and rightful anger at being dumped (while pregnant) at the altar. From that moment on, Chloe decides she will do whatever it takes to keep her son Zavy safe. That means that Chloe gives up on her dreams to go back to dancing ballet. Instead she opens a ballet school.

Kevin McNicholl plays for the New Zealand All Blacks. A big, strong, red-headed man, his primary focus is rugby, his teammate, and his family. His mind has been on Chloe though since he first saw her more than a year ago when she was having lunch with his teammate. Then again when he saw her at Josie and Hugh's wedding. Now he decides he is going to do whatever it takes to get Chloe to "take him on." Blech. Look, Kevin does grow on me. But the way he is introduced is kind of a mess. He's Chloe's new landlord, and shows up at her school and kicks her out. But also wants to go on a date.

Who does that? Seriously. That was one of the main reasons why I initially not feeling this book. It doesn't help though that James expects readers to remember that somehow these two saw each other 4 books ago either. Both characters recall seeing the other one and feeling something and it doesn't feel organic at all. I honestly didn't get their pull or attraction throughout the entire book. At least the romance scenes were great and I did enjoy seeing how Chloe's son Zavy was incorporated.

Secondary characters don't really work in this one. Chloe's parents pretty much sucked. Her mother being overbearing and deciding she would sneak Chloe's son off to see his real father was pretty awful. I did like we get to see Chloe growing up and standing up to her parents about her needs though. But seriously, she's 30, that should have been a conversation way before now. If she was younger I could see how this dynamic worked a bit better. It just didn't feel real to me since I can't see how anyone at the age of 30 would be getting bossed by their parents so much.

Chloe's ex rich was superficially developed. We needed a bad guy, so here is one. Towards the end with the final great Rich is a really terrible person act I just couldn't buy it.

Kevin's family was pretty bland for the most part. Due to his twin sisters (Noelle and Holly) living with him though we see them up close and personal. I really wish that James had not included them. I don't even understand what the hell was going on for the most part between the two of them. And Chloe at times seems cold since she doesn't want to deal with their brat like behavior towards each other either.

The plot was really about these two people falling in love. The sub-plots dealing with Chloe and her terrible ex, and the twins shake-up among each other were just okay. Maybe if the twins sub-plot were left out things would have worked better. At least the flow improved when it was just Chloe, Kevin, and Zavy. The other stuff thrown in just made the whole book jumbled. James usually does a better job than this with this series so I was surprised. The writing was good. I am used to the Kiwi words/sayings that James uses in her books. Can I say though that I am not a fan of the chapter headings and the heart doodle that accompanied the headings either. I maybe mumbled some bad swear words after a while.

I miss the love of New Zealand that usually comes shining through in these books too. It didn't feel like the action moved much beyond Kevin and Chloe's places and Chloe's school. I fell in love with this series a couple of years ago. Most of the latter books have been hit or miss with me. So this one I am going to count as a miss too.

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